Sorting and gaging apparatus.



W. SHAW.

SORTINGAND GAGING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED 00110, I916.

1,269,01 0, Patented June 11, 1918.

4 SHEETSSHEET I.

4000 240 v 1800 lizoo 60 '0 I V I 173E 17317 1736 mi Hall 175? 11v Tom I A TTORNEY W. SHAW.

SORTING AND GAGING APPARATUS.

APPL ICAT|0N FILED OCT. 10. mew

Patented June 11, 1918.

4 SHEETSSHEE.T 2.

7 [NVLN TOR. WILLIAM SHAW W. SHAW.

SORTING AND GAGING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT.10. 916.

Patented June 11, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3- WW K/WA 11V VIE/V TOR.

W. SHAW.

SORTINGIAND GAGING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 10. 1916- Patented J fine 11, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4'.

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WILLIAM SHAW, orLAKnWoon, OHIO, nssrenon, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, ro

NATIONAL cannon COMPANY, INC., A oonronarron or NEWUYORKH SORTIN'G AND, G-AGING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented 1111( 1918;

Original application filed February 24, 1913, Serial No. 750,142. Divided and. this application filed October 10,1916. Serial No.124,807. H l .f

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM SHAW, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Lakewood, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Sorting and Gaging Apparatus,.of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. I

This application is a division of my application, Serial No. 750,142, filed February 24, 1913.

This invention relates to an improved means for gaging and sorting articles. The articles particularly referred to are carbon rods, such as are light electrodes, battery electrodes, etc., although the device may be used for the same purpose with many other bodies. The apparatus as shown is particularly adapted for sorting are light electrodes into the different diameters contained in a certain lot. It may obviously be used for other articles to be accurately separated within certain limits of diameters.

One of the objects of this invention is to decrease the amount of labor and time required in the ordinary method of hand sorting such articles.

Another object is to secure more'accurate sorting of these articles.

A third object of my invention is to secure an apparatus which is adaptable for various sizes of rods, or similar articles.

Other objects will appear in the appended description.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a developed view of the apparatus in elevation.

Fig. 2 is a top View of a form of apparatus embodying the principles of Fig, 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 2 taken on the line EE of Fig. 2. I

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the split die used in the apparatus shown in Figs. 1, 2 and '3, and is taken through the center of the die. i

Fig. 5 is a cross section of thesplit die taken on the line FF of Fig. 4E.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a guide way and hopper used to convey the articlesto the receiving hopper. g

.Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the feeding hopper and its supporting. standard. j

Heretofore, in gaging the diameters of carbon rods such as used in ordinary arc lamps, the entire operation hasbeen aman u'al process. The rods aretried successively in dies of various sizes. The operator first places the carbon in the smallest die and then tries the carbon successively in each larger die, until adie is found of such diameter that the carbon will slide through without sticking. After sliding through such a die the carbon is conducted into a" large hopper which contains the carbons Which will pass through the die in connection therewith.

In my apparatus, the sorting is done on the sam plan as 1n the manual operation,

but it is entirely automatic after placing the carbons .into the supply hopper. The carbons are placed in a hopper and by means of my mechanism are delivered and sorted into the various sizes. For the purpose of conveniently. describing the operation of the invention, I will assume that the objects to be gaged are carbon rods, which vary in size from .490to .510, and theseare sortedinto lots between the sizes of .490 to-.495'; .495

to .5 and .5 to .505 and .505 and above, al though it will be understood that these sizes are adopted merely for the purpose ofillustration.

Referring particularly to Figs. 2 and 3,2

drum 132 is keyed to a rotatable shaft Y135 and has 24: grooves 133 out therein, although any number may be used. Plates 13 1 rigidly fastened to the shaft carry split'dies 17 1, 175, 176, "177 and 178. shown diagrammatically .in Fig. 3 and in detail in Figs. e and 5. The distance between the bottom of the dies in one carrying These plates are i p'late'and the top of the die in the next carrying plate below is approximately the same as the length of the rods being gaged.

Ahopper 1 16 is supported on one'of four standards 136 by means of brackets 47 as shown in Fig. 7. The hopper which sur 20 tened to the movable back 51 and extend I so - ards 136 restin upon a base 142, a cylindriis carried over the pulley 54 to a pedal 56v which is pivoted at 55. A spring 57 is connected to the base 58 and returns the pedal to the raised position after it is compressed. The pulley 54 is fastened to a rod 59 which is connected across the sides 50 of the hopper. The Springs 60 draw the board 51 to- I ward the drum 132 to force the rods into the developed in Fig. 1.

grooves 133. At one end the springs are connected to lugs 61 connected at the outside of the hopper and at the other end to the extension rods 62. These rods are fasthrough holes in the stationary board and are movable in slots 63 cut in the sides 50 of the hopper. These slots are parallel to the sloping bottom of the hopper. The springs could be fastened directly to the movable back, but to enable a longer spring to be used, the extension rods 62 are preferable.

Instead of using four su porting standcal drum or other support could be used having suitable means for supporting cir ular cam rings 137, 138, 139, 140 and 141 thereon. The circular cam rings are shown Shaft 135 is driven by shaft 143, worm 14-1 and gear 145, and may rest on the roller bearings 146 to re duce' the friction.

Referring to Figs. 4 and 5, each of the dies is divided into three parts 151 which are fitted into a holder 152. This holder rests in a hole bored into the plate 134 and is rigidly held therein by the collar 153 and nut 154. The die parts 151 are forced down into the die holder along the slanting surface 155 by the cap 156 to which two springs 157 are attached by means of pins 158. The cap 156 is movable up and down under the action of the springs, the pins moving in the slots 159. The die is opened by means of the hollow sleeve 160 and the conical surface 161 on the cap 156. The sleeve 160 is raised by the lugs 162 bolted to the inside of the arms 163 which are pivoted at 164. Pivot 164 is connected to the bolt 165 which also serves the purpose of connecting the plates 134 to the parts 166. The parts 166 are also shown in Fig. 3 and join the plates 134 to the shaft 135 so as to make them all move together. Wheel 167 turns on a projection 168 of the piece 169 joined to the end of the arms 163. The wheel 167 is moved along the cam surface 137 for instance, and raises and lowers the lugs 162 on the arms 163. Motion transmitted from 162 is imparted to the sleeve 160 which in turn opens the dies by spreading them out on the slanting surfaces 155.

The springs 157 press down on the cap 156 and the conical surface 161 thereon causes the die parts to follow the ,conical surface 155. The lugs 162, however, are placed in such a position that they will not interfere giththe rods when they drop through the In Fig. 6 I have shown a perspective view with parts broken away, of a hopper and guideway which may be used with my device. The flanged portion 169 is placed di rectly. under the dies and the rods slide down between the guide ways 170 to the platform 171. A slanting surface 172 then conducts the rods into the large holder 173 from which they may then be removed at intervals.

Figs. 2 and 3 show guide ways 170 and six hoppers 173 173 173 173 173 and 173 The hoppers are fitted below the supporting base 142 as shown in dotted lines of Fig. 3.

In Fig. 1, which is a partial development, only six grooves and siX dies corresponding therewith are shown. In this view, the rollers 167 are illustrated as operating directly on the split dies instead of through the members 162 and 160. The dies are also shown more or less diagrammatically so as to give a ready understanding of the mode of operation. The details of the dies and opening means are shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

In this apparatus all the dies 174 in the top plate 134 are assumed to have a diameter of .490 inches. The dies 175, 176, 177 and 178 are assumed to have a diameter of .495, .500, .505 and .510 respectively. There are five circular die carrying plates 134 and all the dies in any one plate are of the same diameter.

Assuming that the rods are to be sorted into six groups, the operation of the apparatus is as follows:

The drum 132, dies 174, 175, 176, 177 and 178 and the opening means 167 will be continuously rotated, while the hoppers 146 and 173 and the cams137, 138, 139, 140 and 141 will remain stationary. During the rotation a rod will be fed into each groove 133 from hopper 146, and then as soon as the drum is rotated sufliciently to clear the projection 17 4 on the bottom of the hopper, it will drop into the corresponding split die 174 thereunder, the diameter of which is assumed as .490. The position of the cam 137 and the opening means 167 are such that the die is closed at this position and will remain closed during the passage of the rod over the hopper 173 If the rod 55 1 ing and closing the split dies may be rewill slide'througlndt will alsodro'p directly into the hopper 173 through the dies 175, 176, 177 and 178, the diameter of which has been assumed .495, .500, .505; and .510. j-If any rod is larger than .490, it Willstick and then be rotated until it is over the hopper 173 The split die 17 1 will be opened by the action of the cam 137 and the opening means. The rod is then released and falls into the die 175, the diameter of Which has been assumed .195. If the rod is of sufficiently small diameter to drop through the die, it will pass through' each of the larger dies below and be deposited into the hopper 173 If, on the other hand, it will not pass through the 175 dies,'it will'be rotated until it comes over the hopper 17 39. The dies 175 will then be opened and the rod be dropped into the'.500 dies designated 176 dies. 1f the rod issmaller than .500, it Will drop into the hopper 173 but" if it sticks in that die, 176, it Will be rotated until it is over the hopper 173P. The die Will then be opened by the cam 139 and the opening means,and the rod released into the dies 177 having" a diameter of .505; If it cannot pass through the 177 dies into the hopper 17 3, it will be carried on until it is over the hopper 173 The 177 dies will then be opened, and the roddropped; into the dies 178 of .510 diameter.

If it passes through the l78 'dies,.it will then be deposited into-the hopper 173 All rods which will not pass through any of the preceding dies Willbe deposited in thehopper 173 The cam 137 in conjunction With springs 157, it will be noted, closes the dies 1745 over the hopper 173', but keeps them open during the restof the revolution. Oam138 and spring 157 keep the dies 175 closed over the hoppers 173 and 17 3 7 Cam 139.closes dies 176 over the hopper 1739 and they remain closed over the hoppers 173"-, 173 17 3 Cam 1410 closes the dies 177 over-the hoppers173 17 3 173 and 173 Cam 141 closes the dies over the hopper-173 and is closed. over all the hoppers except 173 In this device, .itwill be advisable to, use means for blowing dustand dirt out. of. the dies While they are open, so that they Will close to their true diameter. This is accomplished by the fan 147 and air pipes 148 and 150 placed in the positionshown.

The form of hoppers and means for openplaced by another means, and I have merely shown a simple and typicalar'rangement for performing this function. I

Having described my invention, What claim is I I 1. In apparatus for sorting articles, a lotatable member for carrying a plurality: of articles, a pluralitywof rotatable die carry- 'ing members and means for passing the-articles successively through a die in each member.

2.111 apparatus for sorting. articles, member havlng a plurality of recesses'forreceiving articles, a plurality of die carrying members having die openlngs 1n alinement w th sa d recesses, means for mov ng said recessed member and said die carrying member adapted to maintain the recesses and die openings in alinement, and means for feeding articles into said recesses.

3*-.= In apparatus for sorting articles, a drum having a" p'lura'lityof recesses spaced about its periphery, a'plurality of members carrying' dies in alinement With said recesses, meansadapted to deposit the artlcles successlvely into the dies of each carrying memher, and ahopperfor feeding articles into I said drum. p

4. In apparatus for sorting articles, a rotatable shaft, adru'm keyed thereto having ziplurzility of recesses-spaced'about its periphery,'=' pluralityof spaced members keyed to-the shaft having a plurality of diest'herein'in alinement With said recesses, means adapted to depositt-hearticles successively "into the "dies of each carrying member and a hopper for feeding articles articles into saiddrum,- and a plurality of hoppers forreceiving the articles. p a 6. 'Iriepparatus for sorting articles, a rotatable vertical shaft,a' drum fastened theretohavinfg -a"plurality of recesses spaced about its periphery, aplurality of horizontal p'lates'attached to the shaft-fa plurality of dies of equal si-Ze in each of saidplates,

said dies'being in alinement with the -recess'esi and of increasing size from the upper tothe l'owerp'late,nieansf' for releasing an article from 'a""die and depositing it in the next-largest die and -a-'h'opper for feeding articles into said recesses in the drum.

' 7 11i apparatus'for sorting articles, 2. r0- tatable vertical shaft, a drum fastened thereto having a plurality of recesses spaced about its periphery, means for feeding articles' thereto, a plurality of" horizontal plates attached to the shaft, a plurality of dies of equal size'in each of the plates, said dies be- 'ing in alinement with the recesses and of increasing size from the upper tothe lower plates, means for releasing the articles from the .dies,wa plurality of hoppers for receivmay be-droppec ing With said size.

1 into the hopper correspond- 8. In apparatus for sorting articles, a rotatable vertical shaft, a drum fastened there to having a plurality of recesses spaced about its periphery, means for feeding articles thereto, a plurality of horizontal plates attached to the shaft, a plurality of dies of equal size in each of the plates, said dies being in alinement with the recesses and of increasing size from the upper to the lower plates, means for releasing the articles from the dies, a plurality of hoppers spaced around the base of said shaft for receiving articles of different sizes and means for maintaining the dies open While passing over a hopper corresponding to an article oflarger size. a

9. In apparatusfor sorting articles, a split die, a second die in alinement therewith having a larger opening than said first mentioned die and adapted; to receive articles passing therethrough, means for carrying an article and depositing it in the first mentioned die and means for opening said split die.

10. In apparatus for sorting articles, a set of split dies, a second set of dies beneath the first, means for depositing an article in a die in the first set, a bin for receiving the articles passing therethrough and means for opening the said dies in the first set to release the article if it fails to pass through.

11. In apparatus for sorting articles, a plurality of bins adapted to receive the sorted articles, a movable set of split dies of uniform diameter, means for feeding the articles into said dies When they'are above the first hopper a second set of rotatable dies of larger diameter than the first set, and means for opening the splitdies in the first set when theyare above the second hopper.

12. In apparatus for sorting articles, a die carrying member having a plurality of split dies of uniform sizetherein, a second die carrying member having a plurality of split dies of uniform size therein, said second mentioned .dies being-larger than the first mentioned dies, a bin for receiving the articles passing through the closed split dies of each member, and means foropening the dies infleach member When they have passec over their corresponding bin. 7 I

13. In apparatus for sorting articles, a plurality of bins adapted to receive the sorted articles, arotatable set ofsplit dies, a second rotatable set of split dies beneath the first, means for feeding the articles into the dies of the first set When they are above the first bin, 'means for opening the dies in the first set Whenthey are above the second bin and means for opening the dies in the second set when they are above the third bin.

14:. In apparatus for sorting articles, a rotatable shaft, a plurality of spaced members secured thereto, a plurality of'split dies in each member, the dies in each member being of. uniform diameter, a plurality of bins, means for feeding the articles into the dies in the first member, means whereby the dies in the first member are closed over the first bin, but open over the second bin, means whereby dies in the second member are closed over the second bin, but open over the third bin.

15. In apparatus for sorting articles, a rotatable shaft, a plurality of spaced members secured thereto, a plurality of split dies of uniform size in one member, a plurality of split dies of uniform but larger diameter in each next succeeding member, a bin to receive the articles passing through the closed split dies in each member, means for feeding the articles into the dies in the first member, means for opening the split dies in each member When they are above the bin corresponding thereto.

'16. In apparatus for sorting articles, a

rotatable shaft, a plurality. of members spaced apart'and secured to said shaft, a plurality of split dies vin each member, the dies in each member being of uniform size and the dies in each succeeding member being larger than the one immediately preceding it, a bin adapted to receive the articles passing through the closed split dies in each member, a cylindrical member secured to said shaft for feeding the articles into the dies in the. first member, means whereby the articles are fed into the corresponding bin if they pass through the dies, and means for opening the dies in each member When they have passed over their corresponding bin. 17. I11 apparatus for sorting articles, a rotatable shaft, a plurality of die carrying members spaced-apart and secured to said shaft, a cylinder secured to the shaft above the first member, said cylinder having a means for retaining the articles therein, a plurality of split dies of uniform diameter in each member, the dies in each member having a'larger diameter than the dies in the preceding member, a bin for receiving the articles passing through the split dies in each member When closed, means for feeding the articles into the cylinder and means whereby they are fed into the dies of the first member before they pass over the bin corresponding thereto, and means for opening the dies in each member When they have passed over their corresponding bin.

18. In apparatus for sorting articles, a rotating vertical a shaft, a plurality of plates spaced'apart and secured thereto, a

cylinder secured to the shaft above the first plate, a plurality of split dies in each plate, a bin adapted to receive the articles passing through the closed split dies! in each plate, a cam member adjacent each plate, and means cooperating therewith to open the split dies in each plate when they have passed over the bin corresponding thereto, and means for feeding the articles into said cylinder.

19. A die composed of a supporting memher having a conical interior surface, a plurality of segments therein, said combined segments having a conical exterior surface, means for raising the segments in said member, and means for returning the segments.

20. A die divided into a plurality of segments, said die having a conical exterior surface, abushing surrounding said die and fitting the conical surface, a washer bearing against one end of the die, springs cobearing against the diverging part of the channel at one end, springs secured to said bushing and said member tending to push thedie into the bushing to close it and a member having a surface bearing against the diverging channel of the opposite end of the die adapted to pushthe die in the opposite direction.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my si ature.

gn vWILLIAM SHAW.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. O. i 

